Rise and shine everyone.
We have jobless claims and two Fed speakers on the roster for today. We also have Walmart and Alibaba reporting before market open and Applied Materials reporting after market close.
We’re having our Debt Ceiling Twitter Spaces at 12pm ET today. Please join if you can.
US equities are higher this morning, even after the surge into the close yesterday. News around the debt ceiling being resolved is a likely catalyst. Gold and copper have taken a tumble as people are back to “risk on” trades. Rates are higher and so is the US Dollar. Bitcoin has also recovered back above $27,000.
Asia and Australia
Asian equities finished higher almost everywhere Thursday as a US debt-ceiling deal neared. Japan's Nikkei 225 rose for sixth straight session to fresh 20-month highs, this time led by technology stocks.
Australian unemployment rate unexpectedly turns higher. Unemployment rate rose to 3.7% from March's 3.5% (also consensus), highest since beginning of 2023
Japan imports contract for first time since Jan-2021. The trade deficit narrowed to ¥432.4B in April, smallest in more than a year.
Chinese stocks still in limbo as post-Covid reopening momentum loses steam.
Europe, Middle East, Africa
European equity markets positive after finishing mixed on Wednesday, with bank holidays in France and Germany.
Eurozone: Markets expect peak rate at 3.75%. Some investment banks see peak rate at 4%.
Rishi Sunak to unveil semiconductor partnership with Japan
Italian banking trends show mixed situation. Net bad loands/Total loans ratio still remains below 1%. However, customer deposit trend negative and still declining
The Americas
Biden and Congressional leaders hopeful of striking deal on debt ceiling
Bets against regional banks continues to climb with KRE short interest rising to 92% of shares outstanding
Netflix says new ad-supported subscription plan has attracted 5M monthly active users
Global semiconductor makers to expand in Japan as tech decoupling from China accelerates
US commercial real estate prices fell in Q1 for the first time in more than a decade
Calendars
(news taken from Reuters, FT, Bloomberg; Calendar from Trading Economics)
